Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-07-02
i.rntes, shals thou cam me vic, and wIlI can


astonishing statement; don't know what;
and she laughed little at bis confusion, and
went on:
"And thou too, o Holly; on thee also win
confer this boon, and then Of O truly shalt
thou be an evergreen tree; and this win do
well. because thou hast pleased me, Holly,
for thou art not altogether a fool, like most
of the sons OF men, and because, though thou
hast a school Of philosophy as full Of nonsense
as those of the old days, yet hast thou not
forgotten how to turn pretty phrase about
a lady's eyes.p
"Halloo, old feilowl' whispered Leo, with
a return OF his old cheerfulness, shave you
been paying complimentsl l should never
have thought it of your
~ thank thee, 0 Ayesha," replied with
as much dignity as could command, abut IL
there be such place as thou dost describe,
and If in this strange place there can be found
q fiery virtue that can hold of Death when
he comes to pluck us by tha hand, yet would
none of it."
"Nay, my Holly, there is love-love which
makes all things beautiful, and doth breathe
divinity into tho very dust we tread With
love shall life roll gloriously from year TO
year, like the voice OF some great music that
hath power to hold tho hearers heart poised
on eagles wings above the sordid shame and
folly OF the earth"
ut may be So" ! answered; abut IL the
loved one prove broken reed TO pierce US,
or II tho loved DO loved in vain--what theni
Shall man grave his sorrows upon stone
when be hath but need to write them on the
waterl Nay, o She, win live my day and
grow old with my generation. and die my up
pointed death, and be forgotten. For do
hope for an Immortality 10 which the little
span that perchance thou canst confer win be
but as a fingers length laid against tho
measure OF tho great world; and, mark this,
the Immortality to which look, and which
my faith doth promise to mo, shall be free
from the bonds that here must tie my spirit
down. For while the flesh endures, sorrow
and evil and the scorpion whips of sin must
endure also; but when tho flesh hath fallen
from us, then shall the spirit come forth clad
in the brightness Of eternal good, and for its
common air shall breathe so rare an ether OF
most noble thoughts that the highest aspira-
ton Of our manhood, or the purest incense Of
q maiden's prayer would prove too earthly
gross to float therein"
aThou lookest high" answered Ayesha,
with little laugh, "and speakest clearly as q
trumpet and with no uncertain sound. And yet
| methinks that but now didst thou talk of
that unknown from which the winding sheet
doth curtain US. But perchance thou seest
with the eye of faith, gazing on this bright
ness that Is to BIO through the painted glass OF
| thy imagination. Strange are the pictures OF
the future that mankind can thus draw with
this brush Of faith and this many colored pig
ment OF imaginationl could tell thee. But
there, what is the use; why rob fool Of bis
baublel Let 1t pass, and pray, o Holly,
that when thou dost feel old age creeping
| slowly toward myself, and the confusion OF
senility making havoc In thy brain, thou
mayst not bitterly regret that thou didst cast
away the imperial boon would have given
to thee. But 30 1t hath ever been; man cor
| never be content with that which his hand
con pluck. II lamp be in his reach TO light
him Through the darkness, he must needs casl
IL down because II Is no star. Happiness
danceth ever pace before him, like the
marsh fires In the swamps, and ho must catch
tho fire, apd he must hold she star. Beauty
is naught to him, because there are lips NOR
| AOiicy bWeCsS 6uu WcnAsa ~ aunkuvy boC80S<
others can weigh him down with heavier
shekels; and fame is naught, because thert
have been greater mon than he. Thysell
thou saidst it, and turn my words against
thee. Wei, thou dreamest that thou shall
pluck the star. believe IL not, and thini
thee fool, my Holly, to throw away thu
lamp
Imade no answer, for could not-especiallJ
before Leo--tell her that since had seen hel
face knew that 1t would always be befor,
my eyes, and that ! had no wish to prolone
an existence which must always be haunted
and tainted by her memory, and by the las
bitterness of unsatisfied love. But so II was
and so, alasi Is 1t to this hour.
sand now,n went on She, changing hel
tone and tho subject together, tell me, my
kallikrates, for as yet / know it not, how
came We to seek me herei Yesternight tho,
didst say that Kallikrates-him whom tho,
sawest--was shine ancestor. How was it
Tell me-thou dost not speak overmuch."
Thus adiurei Leo told her the wonderful
story Of the casket and the potsherd that
written ON by his ancestress the Egyptian
Amenartas, had been the means Of guidin,
us to her. Ayesha listened intentIy, and
when he had finished, spoke to me:
talk Of good and evil, o Holly--it wa
when my beloved lay so ill--that out OF goot
came evil, and out of evil good-that they
| who sowed knew not what the crop should
be, nor he who struck, where the blow should
ialll See, new: this Egyptian Amenartas
this child Of the Nile who hated me, ant
whom oven now hate, for in way she die
prevail against me--sce, now, she herself hatl
been the very means to bring her lover ..
mine arms. For her sake ! slew him, ans
now, behold, through her he hath come bacl
to mel She would have done me evil, ant
sowed her seeds that might reap tares, ant
behold she hath given me more than oil tn,
world can give, and there Is a strange squar,
for thee to fit into thy circle of good and evil
o Holly.
sand so,n she went on, after pause--"an,
30 she babe her son destroy me II he might
because / slew his father. And thou, M,
Kallikrates, art the father, as in a sense thoi
art likewise the son; and wonldst tho,
avenge thy wrong, and the wrong OF tina
far OFT mother of thine, upon me, o Kali
kratesl &c.," and she slid to her knees an,
drew the white corsage still further down he
ivory bostan-"see here beats my heart, ant
there by thy side Is a knife. heavy and lont
and sharp, the very knife to slay an errins
woman with. Take it now, and be avenged
Strike, and strike home, so shalt thou be salts
fed, Kalilrates, md go through life happ,
man because thou hast paid back the wrong
and obeyed the mandate Of the past" H
looked at her, and then stretched out hi
hand and lifted her to her feet
arise, Ayesha,' he said, sadly; swell tho
knowest that cannot strike thee, no, no
even for the sake of her whom thou sleeves
but last night. ] am in thy power, and
,,arx, elava IN thnp How can I kill 'thaa2